Lounging by the (Mortality) Pool
The climate was ideal, but annuities upstaged sunbathing at the 2012 Retirement Industry Conference at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando last week.
The Bucketing Brigade
Pershing LLC, Sovereign Bank, and Securities America have all made Income for Life Model (IFLM) software available to advisors. That represents growth for IFLM, and progress for the income paradigm. (Sculpture by Stephane Cauchy.)
The “Stacking” Strategy
Are bond yields awful? Are investors terrified of equities? Then it’s perfect weather for indexed annuities, the unpredictable but often effective knuckleballs of the annuity world. Check out these new "stacked" offerings from Security Benefit Life and Aviva.
App-ward Mobility
Connecting with investors via full-size computer screens is so last-decade. People now live on their smartphones, and the financial industry has little choice but to follow.
Featured
New Allianz Life VA income rider enhances withdrawal rate, not benefit base
Instead of tempting the client with a guaranteed rollup in the benefit base every year, Income Focus enhances the withdrawal rate. And, instead of guaranteeing that enhancement, Allianz Life makes it contingent on market gains.
News
Ford to offer pension buy-outs; Towers Watson calls it a ‘first’
Ford's intended one-time voluntary lump sum offer to most of its salaried retirees by the end of 2013 "appears to be the first such program to specifically target retirees without being part of a broader plan termination," said Towers Watson.
Medicare budget numbers: bad, worse, and confusing
Social Security and Medicare accounted for 36% of federal spending in fiscal 2011, say the program's trustees. Through the mid-2030s, population aging and lower-birth-rate generations entering the workforce will cause costs to grow faster than GDP.
Debt can make you sick
Being in debt can cause stress, and stress can multiply the risk of illnesses as varied as ulcers, depression and heart attacks, the American Psychological Association claims.
Fidelity, USAA, Vanguard are “top of mind” for affluent investors
Other top-of-mind firms include American Funds, Charles Schwab, Franklin Templeton, T. Rowe Price, TD Ameritrade, and TIAA-CREF. Not far behind are Genworth, John Hancock, MassMutual, MetLife, Nationwide, Northwestern Mutual, New York Life, Prudential, The Hartford, and The Principal, said Phoenix Marketing International.
The Bucket
Genworth CEO resigns, and other brief or late-breaking news from MetLife, Nationstar, The Hartford, Forethought, Jackson National, Prudential International Investments Advisors, Northwestern Mutual, and National Financial Partners, Pentegra Retirement Services and the U.K. Office of National Statistics.
Quote of the Week
"Life is really quite stochastic in nature." -- Robert O'Donnell, president, Prudential Annuities, addressing the 2012 Retirement Industry Conference in Orlando, April 26.
Springtime is for SPIAs, Etc.
Here at RIJ, May is the month when we focus on income annuities. Expect to hear a lot about SPIAs, SPIVAs, DIAs, and/or ALDAs over the next several weeks.
